Book publishing/launch todo list

My next planned post was going to be about preparing the print edition. But before I do that, I thought I'd slip in something much simpler. This is just my to-do list of the things I need to do, now that I have a few days breather in between finishing the 2nd draft (3rd? 4th?) and getting ready to actually publish the ebook and paperback editions.
Here is the Gleebooks link for the series launch.
I'll update this list as I progress (as the countdown proceeds).
I thought it might make a handy check-list for other people. Though your mileage may vary, since I'm using Amazon for the ebook, and IngramSpark for the print editions.
Notes:
WT = Wild Thing (1), HL = Harsh Lessons (2), SH = Shadow Hunt (3).
"*" means the task is completed.
This list is complicated by the fact that I'm doing a series launch (two books, not one), so it makes a bit more work for me.
I think a good planner would schedule this work to be spread out over at least two or three months.
I have learned to allow more time for the stuff, for future books!
Without further ado, the check-list. But because it looks a little daunting just presented as one great lump, I'll try to structure it a little to make it more digestible. I'll include estimates for how long each task should take, too.
Essential items

1. * [1 hr.] Assign the ISBN for the new book. (Both ebook and print edition(s).)n Included in this is notifying the ISBN authority (in Australia, it means filling in the web forms in Thorpe-Bowker). This helps the book appear in publishing databases.
2. * [1 hr.] Apply for the Catalogue in Print (CiP) entry for the new book. (ebook and print). This means the book will show up in more catalogues, including libraries, all around the world.
   Although this doesn't take you long, it may take a couple of weeks to receive the CIP text, so don't leave this until the last minute!
3. * [2 hrs: er, no, 6.] MARKETING: Get Gleebooks RSVP info, site URL, for mail out to people I know who may be interested, and do so. Once only.
4. * [1 wk? 2? Yes, it took a full 2 wks] Finish off the writing. For me, this means attending to the final critique from my editor. And I wanted to fiddle a bit with the title page.
   A normal person would schedule the book launch with ample time for this!
5. * [2 hrs] Upload the book to the print edition publisher, IngramSpark, and to the ebook publisher, Amazon. Done: Harsh Lessons
6. * [1 hr + detail check: 6 hrs] June 23: Order urgent proof copy of HL, and check it.
   A normal person would schedule the book launch with ample time for this, too. Got this done 4 days later than I'd hoped: paid a little extra, to rush the order to compensate.
7. * [1 hr +6hrs?] June 30: get estimated no.s of attendees for launch and order an appropriate number of copies [Done for WT: Will do rush order on Monday for HL].
8. * [2 hrs -> 1hr] MARKETING: Update list of people who earned/won free ecopy of HL (send iff given address), and gift people those people with free ecopies of Harsh Lessons, as I promised.
   (If you haven't promised this to people, then it's not a required Thing To Do!)

-- Bottom line: about 2 days of work. [Turned out nearer 3]


For me, I have to add whatever time it takes me to prepare the absolute final text for the book. (A sane person, or a good organiser, would schedule things so this list didn't even include that last slab of work!)  I'm not including the finishing of the writing/editing, since that's just the tip of the write-a-novel iceberg and doesn't belong in this list.

Useful but not essential

1. [6 hrs?] Write some blog articles. (For me:
   * a status update [done],
   * this todo list [done],
   finish off the "preparing the print edition" article.)
2. * [3 hrs] Research and buy new colour duplex laser printer. So I can produce decent press releases/posters. Brother HL-3150CDN sounds good, for Linux. $200. Buy, install, configure.
   Cost is a lot higher when you add a complete set of toner replacements (~+$600). Ubuntu 16.06 auto-install set it only as a text-only printer, nor could it print the test page. But the Brother web site provided installers for CUPS and lp, and that worked easily and flawlessly. Print quality is lovely!
3. *[1 hr] For my situation, choose a suitable sample early chapter from Vol. 3 to include at the end of Vol. 2.
4. *[2 hrs] Since I've improved Ch 1 in HL, and it's included as an excerpt at the end of Vol 1, update that in WT ebook and POD.
   (If it's your 1st book, or you haven't included a sample excerpt, this item goes away.)

-- Bottom line: about 3 days of work.
Nice to do if I have time

1. [1 hr] MARKETING: Update WT press release.
2. [2 hrs] MARKETING: Prepare press release for Harsh Lessons.
3. [2 hrs] MARKETING: Print and send good press release with copy of WT to appropriate SMH reviewer.
4. * [2 hrs: er, 4hrs] MARKETING: Make poster for where I used to work: the PDF for the poster is available here, for others to use.
5. * [1hr] MARKETING: Update my old web site which succinctly lists what I've written and what I'm working on.
6. * [15 min] MARKETING: Give poster to local newsagency?
7. * [30 min] MARKETING: Give poster to local library?
8. [2 hrs?] MARKETING: Prepare some give-away postcard or similar for book launch?
9. [1 hr] MARKETING: Prepare and order new business cards.
10. * [1 hr] MARKETING: Organise Amazon free days for WT to garner extra reviews.
    I mis-handled this, though: didn't promote it effectively beforehand, and did it as one lump of 5 days. But I learned a lot about the timzeons (plural) that Amazon works in. Also made a suggestion which they they seem inclined to implement.
11. * [30 mins] MARKETING: Post Harsh Lesson draft to Amazon; set pre-release info.
12. * [1 hr] Make the ebook available on Amazon from July 6 5
    Discover that you can't shift this date later if you realise you've given yourself too little time, without Amazon taking it very seriously: you lose the right to arrange another pre-order for a whole year. So I stuck with my original date. I hope I'm allowed to upload an improved version before the release date!
    Yes: but it can take a day for the uploaded revision to ripple through.
13. * [10 mins] MARKETING: Contact local community radio (Radio Skid Row) re series launch, book 2, for interview. Note that various Linux tools for listening to streaming music did not work for me (banshee, streamtuner), but Clementine worked immediately after adding the URL for the stream, http://www.radioskidrow.org/mono32.asx)
    The interview will be lunchtime (prob. around 12:30pm) on Thursday 23rd June.
14. [2 hrs?] MARKETING: Create a Facebook author page.
15. [2 hrs?] MARKETING: Complete that convenience FB app. for Blogger.
16. [2 days?] Read those two books on publishing/marketing I bought.
17. [hrs?] MARKETING: Actions from marketing plan
18. [1 hr] Practice reading, in case it's wanted for BL.
19. [2 days ea?] Prepare an A-format (4"x7") edition of each book being launched (For me, Vols 1&2: WT, HL).

-- Bottom line: about 6 days of work.
Misc other vaguely related stuff that'd be nice to do, too

1. [1 hr] Post copy of WT to replace lost copy, + HL, to Mirella. Choose trackable/signed delivery! Also post copy of HL to Dave.
2. [1 hr?] Provide hardcopy WT to State Library? Ditto HL.
3. [1 day] Do oomph analysis for Wild Thing.
4. [1 day] Re-do oomph analysis for Harsh Lessons
5. [day? ]Try character matrix idea?
6. [1 day] Oomph analysis writing.
7. [1 day] Type up some other not published pieces for the Marrickville Writer's Group review site.
8. [days?] Aug: Start preparing for Book Expo, October

-- Bottom line: about 5 days of work.
So for me, all up, if I include every optional task, that's about 16 days of work. But just 2 days if I only do the essential items. I did need two weeks to attend to Dave's 2nd critique. It made excellent sense to do the essential stuff (including attending to the critique), and then work my way through the "nice to do things". The launch is now over, and was very successful (according to my modest goals), though I ran out of time to do many of the "nice-to-do" items. A few I'll carry on and do, even though it's now after the launch. If I hadn'tm caught a bad cold, with coughing when I tried to sleep, I think I would have achieved most of these things. Also, saying "Yes" to a solar panel installation and handling the consequences of how much planning and work that would involved was one of my stupid seat-of-the-pants decisions: to-ing and fro-ing about that cost me at least a day of productive work, until I postponed it all until afterwards.
At the time I first wrote this I had 25 days, so it looked a little scary but not too scary, even given my overly-optimistic planning and scheduling!

But the end result was happy. I'll put up a video from the launch on youtube in a day or two.

Book 2 - Harsh Lessons - is almost ready

I should apologise for the long gap in items, but I don't feel too guilty about it, because life's rich pattern has been a bit too rich: with a wonderful wedding (congrats, Emma & Pete!), a significant health issue in the family and planning for serious surgery for that, the death of my wonderful and loving Aunt Patsy, and the birth of a new nephew (welcome to the world, Malachi). Family comes first, but my writing does come second, so that meant that pretty much everything else got squeezed out of the picture.

Executive summary: I've been very busy and productive, and I will be holding a series launch of the 1st two books, at Gleebooks on Sat 9th July 2016, 3:30pm for 4pm at Glebe, Sydney. Harsh Lessons (Vol 2 of The Leeth Dossier) should just be ready in time!

This is probably a good place to show the beautiful new cover, once again designed by the wonderful Mirella de Santana (https://www.facebook.com/mirellasantana.digitalartist and at http://mirellasantana.deviantart.com/).

So this is just a little filler piece before my next planned serious post, about preparing a print edition. I had drafted an article on that topic when I was preparing the print edition for Wild Thing (Vol 1 in the series), but simply didn't have the time to finish the article off and post it here. But since I'll be preparing Harsh Lessons (Vol2) in a week or two from now (epub and print), I thought it made sense to use that to freshen up my experience and finish off the article.

In the meantime, this article, which is just a "what I'm up to right now" article.

So, what's this mention of Book 2 being called Harsh Lessons? When did it change from Shadow Hunt? And why? Well, a funny thing about that…

So, after all that "oomph analysis" stuff in the previous post, how did Book 2 fare under Dave's (http://ThEditors.com/) critical view? The big worry was that the book was looking much too long, at I think 165k words – I think it was around 560 pages. And Dave said it sounded like I'd need to cut it by twenty to thirty percent.

So, what happened? Well, Dave liked the new stuff, especially the "Mean Girls" story arc. The idea behind that was to fix a small pacing problem, except it in itself turned into 50 pages. But he pointed out that the readers would probably be wanting Leeth to be developing and learning a bit faster than I had planned; and more importantly, he thought I'd taken the easy way out in an area related to that, which meant I'd missed a great opportunity for something quite compelling which would make a natural and satisfying climax if the book ended there. Which just happened to be around the mid-point. His second big suggestion was related to Leeth's fighting prowess compared to her sensei. We ended up compromising, there.

So, it was back to the plotting and writing, and I outlined how it would look, and discussed it with Dave, and then got stuck in. Ah, yes, so if you're just wondering "But didn't you also split the 1st book in two?", then I'd have to sheepishly confess that I had. And indeed, that was the 1st half of the initial MS, which I myself had split in half back in around 2000, I think.

Anyway, the split meant that I needed a new title, since Shadow Hunt fits the 2nd half very well (now, Book 3); but doesn't fit the 1st half (now, Book 2). So after much mulling and thinking, I realised Harsh Lessons was the right title for volume 2. Which of course means I'll need to revise the text at the end of Book 1, to update the mention of Book 2's title, and I've also since then (thanks to Dave's critique) tightened the sample chapter I included. The other thing I've been squeezing in, is organising a series launch. Since there was no way I was going to be able to meet my promised publication schedule for Book 2 if I took the time to arrange the launch for Book 1, it made sense instead to delay till July and launch the series, with both books. This is tight: Harsh Lessons has been with Dave for about a week now, and I'll be getting some feedback next week; so depending on how much he thinks needs to be done to it, I may have an impossible amount of work to do, or something achievable, for the July 9th launch!

The series launch. So the launch will be held at 3:30pm for 4pm, at Gleebooks, Glebe, in Sydney, Saturday 9th July: the week after the Australian Federal Election. And I'll update this blog post with the RSVP etc. information for the Gleebooks newsletter and website.

For the book launch, if you would like to come, it's important to RSVP to Gleebooks directly, using any of the mechanisms they provide: by emailing or by phone (calling (02) 9660 2333), or by going to the Gleebooks website (or is it the newsletter part of the site for July - now in preparation - at The Gleebooks Gleaner newsletter ?), and RSVP-ing by filling out the form that will be there. As Gleebooks are catering (and I'm paying, of course), we need to have a good estimate of how many people will be coming for both the catering side and so I can guess how many copies to bring along, in case anyone wants to buy one. They'll be available for $20, and I'll obviously be happy to sign them for people.

Sandra Wigzell of Book Expo Australia has kindly agreed to be the special guest star. Sandra noticed a few years ago that Australia had not had a Book Expo since the 1970s, believe it or not. So she has been organising and holding them for the last few years, and it seems to be growing nicely. Sandra is a big supporter of indie publishers, book reviewers (including "booktubers" – a lively bunch of people who review books and all related stuff in videos they make), the people who provide services to authors and indie publishers, and of course book lovers. It's a great place for talks and seminars, as well as a chance to meet and talk to authors and everyone else in the book creation world. This year's is on 8/9 October, at Rosehill Racecourse Pavilion. "Book Expo Australia is a dedicated event national and international publishers and authors to meet and interact with avid booklovers"